GEOLOGY FINAL

Water pollution

degradation of water quality as measured by biological, physical, and chemical criteria

Pollutants

any substance that, in excess, is known to be harmful to desirable living organisms

What is the greatest water pollution-related issue?

diseases in drinking water
- 20% of the world population lacks disease-free drinking water
- waterborne diseases kill 2 million/yr
- most waterborne disease deaths are children under the age of 5 years

What are the major categories of common pollutants?

1. **Oxygen-demanding waste**
2. **Pathogenic waste/microbes**
3. **Nutrients**
4. **Petroleum/oil**
5. **Toxins (chemicals, heavy metals, radioactive wastes)**
6. Sediment
7. Thermal plumes

What is oxygen-demanding waste?

* dead organic material decomposed by bacteria, an oxygen-demanding process
* **Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD): higher BOD is associated with a higher level of decaying organisms**
* this reduces available dissolved oxygen for healthy organisms

**What are some sources of oxygen-demanding waste?**

- natural processes
- urban sewage
- agricultural applications
- runoff

What is pathogenic waste?

* **microbes that contribute to waterborne disease**
* most common in poorer countries
* fecal coliform bacteria is a common one

What are some cases of outbreaks related to pathogenic waste in water?

- 1998 GA waterpark
- 2000 Ontario
- Walkerton public water supply
- 2006 California spinach contamination

What is nutrient pollution?

* **commonly nitrogen, phosphorous**
* triggers cultural eutrophication, leading to algal blooms, leading to BOD issues

What are some sources of nutrient pollution?

- fertilizer
- feedlots
- discharge from wastewater treatment plants

What are problems associated with petroleum/oil pollution?

- polluted water
- ecosystem damage
- disrupted local socioeconomic conditions

What are some sources of petroleum/oil pollution?

- tankers and pipelines
- on or off-shore oil production
- war

What is toxic waste pollution?

- synthetic organic chemicals
- up to 100,000 in use, especially Persistent Organic Pollutants
- includes heavy metals like Pb, Hg, Zn, Cd

List some Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

- Aldrin
- Atrazine
- DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane)
- Dieldrin
- Endrin
- PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls)
- Dioxins

What are some sources of toxic waste pollution?

- insecticide (aldrin, DDT, dieldrin, endrin)
- herbicide (atrazine) and byproducts of herbicide production (dioxins)
- liquid insulators in electric transformers (PCBs)

What is sediment pollution?

- greatest water pollutant by volume
- sand and smaller particles

What are major sources of sediment pollution?

- soil erosion
- dust storms
- floods
- mudflows

What is thermal water pollution?

- as temperature increases, there is less dissolved oxygen
- has adverse changes to habitats or organisms
- economic impacts

What are some major sources of thermal water pollution?

- hot water discharge from industrial operations
- power plants
- abnormal ocean currents

Describe point source pollution

- discrete, confined, more readily identifiable
- sources: landfills, wastewater treatment plant discharge, industrial discharge, power plants, stormwater runoff

Describe nonpoint source pollution

- diffused, intermittent, hard to identify
- influenced by land use, climate, hydrology, topography, geology
- sources: urban runoff, agricultural, mining (acid rain and drainage)

How does acid mine drainage form?

iron sulfide (FeS2) often from pyrite comes into contact with air and/or water, then becomes sulfuric acid (FeSO4 + H2SO4)

Why is acid mine drainage an issue?

- worsens chemical weathering
- acid water is extremely toxic to plants and animals (especially in aquatic ecosystems)

What was once designated by the EPA as one of the nations worst examples of acid mine drainage?

Tar Creek, Oklahoma

What is the closest case of acid mine drainage to Athens, Ohio?

Monday Creek watershed in Murray, Ohio

What is the difference between ferrous and ferric?

ferrous (Fe 2+) [just the two of us]
ferric (Fe 3+)

What is yellow boy?

the substance that makes acid mine drainage yellow
2Fe(OH)3

What is the most abundant source of freshwater?

groundwater

What percentage of people in the US depend on groundwater for drinking water?

50%

What percentage of the 175,000 known waste disposal sites in the country may be producing plumes, or bodies of contaminated groundwater?

75%

Groundwater pollution hazard impact depends on 3 things

1. amount of contaminant
2. chemical concentration or toxicity
3. degree and duration of exposure to the pollution

Darcy's Law allows us to estimate

- velocity/flow rate moving within the aquifer
- the average time of travel from the head of the aquifer to a point downstream
- prediction of contaminant plume arrival

Does groundwater move quickly or slowly?

very slowly, often less than a meter per day, but depends on local geology

What are the goals of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program?

- describe current water quality conditions
- monitor changes over time
- increase understanding of factors that affect water quality

What is the difference between groundwater pollution and surface water pollution?

- GW has a higher (longer) residence time
- different environmental conditions (ex: sunlight)
- harder to track the source for GW
- more difficult and expensive to clean for GW

What percentage of the world lives at or near the coast?

~50%

What must be done before treating groundwater?

a pretreatment study (need things like physical characteristics of aquifer, hydrological conditions like flow rate and direction and discharge/recharge)

What are four main methods of treating groundwater and vadose water?

1. Extraction wells
2. Vapor extraction
3. Bioremediation
4. Permeable treatment bed

How does an extraction well treat groundwater?

contaminated water is pumped out and treated by filtration, oxidation, air stripping (volatilizes contaminants in an air column), or biological processes

How does vapor extraction treat groundwater?

a vapor extraction well is used, then the groundwater is treated

How is bioremediation used to treat groundwater?

nutrients and oxygen are injected to encourage the growth of organisms that degrade the contaminant

How is a permeable treatment bed used to treat groundwater?

a form of contact treatment, the contaminated plume moves through the bed and the contaminant is neutralized through biological, physical, or chemical processes

What are MCLs?

Maximum Contaminant Levels (declares permissible limits for 83 contaminants)

What are MCLGs?

Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (declares the MCL at which lifetime exposure results in no negative health impacts)

What are SMCLs?

nonenforceable limits for contaminants that affect aesthetic qualities of water

Why must used wastewater be treated?

it is a law

How does a septic tank system work?

- house connects to sewerline, which goes to the septic tank, then out into a drainage field
- more common in rural areas
- must be above groundwater table

What happen during primary treatment of wastewater?

- sewage goes through screens
- coarse material disposal
- grit chamber
- sedimentation tank

What happen during secondary treatment of wastewater?

- aeration tank
- final sedimentation tank
- disinfection

What happens to wastewater after treatment?

- discharge (sent to body of surface water)
- advanced treatment (additional chemicals, filters, etc) then discharge
- reuse as reclaimed water, when discharge is not ideal

When was the Clean Water Act made and amended?

made 1972, amended 1977

What did the Water Quality Act of 1987 do?

established national policy to control nonpoint sources of water pollution

What happened in terms of water quality legislation in July 2000?

Clinton imposed new water pollution controls, but they would take 15 years to implement

What is the largest country in sub-saharan Africa?

the Democratic Republic of the Congo

What are conflict minerals?

- mining and trade helps fund conflict
- tantalum, tin, tungsten, gold, cassiterite, columbite, tantalite, wolframite

Why is open pit mining damaging to the environment?

strategic minerals are often only available in small concentrations, so the amount of ore that needs mined increases

Why is underground mining damaging to the environment?

potential for tunnel collapses and land subsidence

Case Study: Golden Colorado Golf Course

- used to be an open pit quarry for 100 years
- quarry excavated clay to make bricks
- was reclaimed to become Fossil Trace Golf Club

Availability of mineral resources is a measure of

wealth of a society

Processed materials from minerals account for what percentage of the US GDP?

5%

What are mineral resources?

usable economic commodity extracted from naturally formed material (can be elements, compounds, minerals, or rocks)

What is a reserve?

the portion of a resource that is identified and currently available to be extracted legally

What are some things we use mineral resources for?

- metal production
- technology
- construction materials
- agriculture (fertilizers)
- chemical industry
- cosmetics
- food
- energy
- precious gemstones
- etc

What are some responses to the limited availability of mineral resources?

- find more sources
- find substitutes
- recycle
- use less
- find a way to not use

Metallic ore

useful metallic minerals that can be mined for a profit

Concentration factor

concentration necessary for profitable mining (varies with type of metal and time)

Where do most garnets form?

at convergent plate boundaries where shale is being acted upon by regional metamorphism

Placer deposits

- sedimentary process
- type of mineral deposit where grains of a valuable mineral are mixed with sand deposited by a river or glacier
- in mining, refers to using water and gravity to separate gold from surrounding material

Evaporite deposits

- sedimentary process
- EX: Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah

How is plate tectonics related to minerals?

- plate tectonic processes (high temp and pressure, partial melting) promote the release and enrichment of metals along plate boundaries
- at convergent plate boundaries, related to partial melting of seawater-saturated rocks
- at divergent boundaries, related to movement of ocean water

Are there lots of mineral resources at the bottom on the ocean?

yes

Sulfide deposits

- massive sulfide deposits
- containing zinc, copper, iron, and trace silver
- produced at black smokers along the ocean ridges
- hot, dark, mineral-rich water emerges as hot springs

Manganese oxide nodules

- cover vast areas of the deep ocean floor (up to 50% in some areas)
- contain 24% manganese, 14% iron, 1% copper, 1% nickel, 0.25% cobalt
- most abundant where sediment is at a minimum, often depths of 5-7km

Cobalt-enriched manganese crusts

- present in the mid- and southwest Pacific
- on flanks of seamounts, volcanic ridges, and islands

Acid mine drainage (AMD) affects over \______ miles of streams in West Virginia

2000

Acid Mine Drainage is a \____________ process

oxidation

Describe oxidation

- interaction between oxygen molecules and substances they come into contact with
- loss of at least one electron when two or more substances interact, which may NOT involve oxygen
- opposite of a reduction, when at least one electron is gained

What are some mining methods?

open pit, underwater, underground

Exploration and Testing

- first step
- involves surface mapping, remote sensing data collection, geochemical/geophysical data, test drilling
- minimal impact

Extraction and Processing

- second step
- directly impacts land, water, air, and biological environment
- social impact: increased demands for housing and services because of the rapid influx of workers
- indirect impact: topography effect, material transport impacts, etc

What percentage of the mining area is used for waste disposal?

40%

What percentage of solid wastes are mining waste?

40%

What is the largest artificially made excavation in the world?

Kennecott's Bingham Canyon Copper Mine, Utah

Where was the world's most acidic water found, and what was it's pH?

an underground mine near Redding, California, with a pH of -3.6

What is Itai-Itai disease?

- chronic painful bone issues
- due to large concentrations of cadmium, zinc, and lead

Why recycle mineral resources?

- saves energy, money, land, and raw mineral resources from not mining more
- wastes are dangerous otherwise

What are the most recycled metals?

iron and steel

It only takes \_______ of the energy used to produce steel from its original ore to produce it from recycled scrap

1/3

What is the R/C ratio?

the time available for finding a solution to the depletion of a nonrenewable mineral, with R being the known reserve and C being the rate of consumption

What is an anemometer?

An instrument used to measure wind speed

Energy transition of the 1800

- from wood in mid 1800s to fossil fuels in mid 1900s
- wood peaked in 1870
- shortages of wood in 1812 Philadelphia led to burning coal
- first oil well completed in 1858
- took 100 years to fully transition
- oil will likely peak in 2020-2050

Peak oil

The point at which half the total known oil supply is extracted and used up

What percentage of US energy consumption is fossil fuels?

90%

What percentage of US energy consumption is hydropower and nuclear?

10%

When was the peak of fossil fuel discoveries?

1960

When was the peak increase of US energy consumption?

1950-1974

What are the main types of energy?

light, electrical, chemical, thermal, mechanical, nuclear

What is a joule?

unit of energy, 1 newton force applied of 1 meter

1 gigajoule \=
1 exajoule \=
1 quad \=

10^9 J
10^18 J
1.055 EJ

Power

rate of energy transferred or used